Saturday, July 9, 2011

Yowsers!

Orange, Calif., Jul 8, 2011 / 03:04 am (CNA).- The Diocese of Orange says it is potentially interested in buying a 3,000-seat glass church in Southern California that faces bankruptcy.

The diocese announced on July 7 that it’s currently looking for a building to meet the needs of the1.2 million Catholics in Orange County, the 11th largest diocese in the nation.

Although it’s been planning for over 10 years to build a new, 2,500-seat cathedral in Santa Ana, the diocese has only hired an architect for the project and is now considering converting the bankrupt church in Garden Grove into a Catholic cathedral. [Economic factors must play their part in a time of economic contraction. ]

“While we continue to develop plans for a cathedral in Santa Ana, it is prudent to evaluate the opportunity to engage in the pending auction of this property and to mitigate the chance that it cease to function as a place of worship, if acquired by others,” Bishop Tod D. Brown said on Tuesday.

The Crystal Cathedral – an architectural landmark made with over 10,000 panes of glass and designed by the late Philip Johnson – would be an instant solution to the diocese’s building needs and would cost roughly half the $100 million price tag for the planned cathedral.

“I have authorized our advisors to contact the appropriate parties in the proceedings to determine a possible course of action,” Bishop Brown said.

“If the Diocese of Orange can prevent the loss of this important Christian Ministry and what the Crystal Cathedral has represented to so many for so long – and meet its own priorities for a new cathedral, we have a duty to at least review the options.”

At the same time, Bishop Brown cautioned that no official plans have been made.

“This is solely an exploratory consideration, not binding upon any party involved in the proceedings,” he said. “There is no change of course concerning development of the existing Cathedral site or other parishes in the community.”

The Crystal Cathedral, founded by pastor Robert H. Schuller, filed for bankruptcy last October. The church decided to file for Chapter 11 after some of its creditors sued for payment, according to church officials.

Documents from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana show that hundreds of creditors could be owed between $50 million and $100 million, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Diocese of Orange said that Bishop Brown has followed the news of the Crystal Cathedral bankruptcy proceedings with “concern” and is interested in the “landmark church remaining a functional part of the liturgical landscape for the region.”

Construction on the Crystal Cathedral began in 1977 and was completed in 1980 at a cost of $18 million.

To become a Roman Catholic Cathedralthey will need to remove the twojumbo video screens in the nave.Also there is a total lack of anyChristian art work and they wouldneed to remove the stage and builda chancel with an altar.

That would be the irony of ironies. The symbol of American religious trendiness being taken over by the adherents to ancient tradition. Not to revel in someone else's troubles, but the end of the Cathedral is no surprise, it was little more than a tourist attraction when I lived in Southern California fifteen years ago. Thirty years and its gone, most Christian congregations are just getting started at thirty, but that's what happens when your 'ministry' is centered on a personality rather than the person and work of Christ. Makes me wonder if I'll live long enough to read the same sort of story about Joel Osteen's church.

Live Traffic Feed

Our Means of Grace Window

The Window

This is the Means of Grace Window that is above the altar of Grace Lutheran Church where I serve. It reminds us of the keys (confession and absolution), the wheat(the bread which is the Body of Christ), the cup (which is His Blood), the Word (Scripture), and the Pastoral Office (the red stole). In this one wonderful window we see the treasures of the Church in the Word and Sacraments and I love that it is available for all to see. I realize that this image has been stolen all over the internet but it is a real window, a copyrighted image, belonging to Grace Lutheran Church, Clarksville, Tennessee, which has kindly allowed my use of it...

About Me

I have been a Lutheran Pastor for more than 36 years, serving in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and the Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Clarksville, TN, in my 24th year here. I have a lot of thoughts (obviously not all of equal weight or importance) and this place is where you meet some of those meandering thoughts from this pastoral mind.

Why begin a blog?

I spend a few minutes a few times a week checking out several different blogs. Some are on-line forums and others are the musings of friends, who, like me, are Lutheran Pastors. Since so many spend so much time in front of their computer, I am sharing a few thoughts in this medium. So join the conversation and see what pops up.